Display device

ABSTRACT

A display device is provided containing a transparent or translucent panel having a display on the front or back of said panel, illuminating means mounted back of said panel to cause light to be transmitted around or through said display, and a plurality of discs mounted for rotation in front of said illuminating means to the rear of said panel and to one side of said display, said discs having radial light transmitting sections and means to cause the rotation of said discs, preferably a clock mechanism, to produce a flashing radial light.

United States Patent Stanish June 24, 1975 DISPLAY DEVICE [75] lnvgmofiRobert Starfish Chicago, In. Primary Examiner-Edith Simmons Jackmon [73]Assignee; Poster Products, Inc., Chicago, Ill. 57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed:-1973 A display device is provided containing a transparent [21] Appl.No.; 411,711 or translucent panel having a display on the front or backof said panel, illuminating means mounted back of said panel to causelight to be transmitted around [52] l 'i g is or through said display,and a plurality of discs 5 [51] l 50 R A 240 mounted for rotation infront of said illuminating [58] ml 0 earc means to the rear of saidpanel and to one side of said display, said discs having radial lighttransmitting secl56] References cued tions and means to cause therotation of said discs, UNITED STATES PATENTS preferably a clockmechanism, to produce a flashing 2,009,209 7/1935 Scantlebury 58/50radial light. 3.668858 6/1972 Hartwig 58 50 R 3,798,892 3 1974 Lukens58/126 A 5 ClalmS, 5 Drawmg Flgures DISPLAY DEVICE BACKGROUND Manydifferent types of illuminated advertising displays have heretofore beenproposed such as, for example, illuminated signs and flashing signs. Itwould be desirable to have an advertising display in which the displayis illuminated and auxiliary means are provided to call attention to thedisplay with the display and the auxiliary means contained in a compactunit. It would also be desirable to have an advertising device of thetype described in which the display is in color and attention isdirected to the display by auxiliary means in the form of a flashinglight also in color. It would likewise be desirable if said auxiliarymeans had the dual function of serving as a clock and providing aflashing light to direct attention toward the display.

OBJECTS tating flashing light is provided by a clock mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved clockdisplay comprising a plurality of rotatable discs of different colorswith radial light transmitting sections or slots, said discs beingdriven by a synchronous clock motor and a gear train and including afirst disc rotatable with the second shaft ofa clock having a radiallight transmitting section on an opaque background, a second discrotatable with the hour shaft having a slot or transparent section andotherwise being colored, for example. red, and a third disc rotatablewith the minute shaft having the same characteristics as the second discexcept that it is a different color, for example, green or blue, thesecond and third discs being sufficiently thick to block out lighteverywhere except at locations aligned with one of the transparentsections or slots in the second or third discs so that whenever atransparent section or slot in the second or third disc is aligned witha light transmitting portion on the first disc a colored illuminatedflashing hour or minute hand is presented to the viewer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clock display of thetype described in which means forming a pair of or attached to the firstdisc is rotatable around the outer rim of the second and third discs andtransmits light that appears as a dot moving as an indicator of secondsin an orbit around the outer rim of the second and third discs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new type of clockmechanism in which indicating means for hours, minutes and seconds areilluminated in a novel manner.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front of a clockdisplay device illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

certain of the components of the display device shown in FIG. 4.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention adisplay device is provided containing a transparent or translucent panelhaving a display on the front or back of said panel, illuminating meansmounted back of said panel to cause light to be transmitted around orthrough said display, and a plurality of discs mounted for rotation infront of said illuminating means to the rear of said panel and to oneside of said display, said discs having radial light transmittingsections and means to cause the rotation of said discs, preferably aclock mechanism, to produce a flashing radial light which moves in anorbit and at times during the course of said movement is directed towardsaid display.

The invention also provides a new type of clock mechanism in whichindicating means for hours, minutes and seconds are illuminated in anovel manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in the drawings, the display devices comprises a panel Ihaving a display 2 printed on the front or back of a transparent ortranslucent portion of said panel, preferably by screen printing, usingeither opaque or light transmitting printing inks.

To one side of the printed display portion 2 is a clear or transparentportion 3 which forms a cover for a clock generally indicated at 4.Referring to FIG. 2, the clock 4 is driven by a synchronous motor 5through a gear train generally indicated at 6 in a conventional manner.

Illuminating means are mounted back of panel 1 to cause light to betransmitted around or through the printed display area 2. In the drawingas shown by FIG. 2 the illuminating means is a fluorescent lamp 7mounted on fixtures 8 and 9 in a conventional manner and operatedthrough a starter 10 and a transformer 11 connected by wires 12. Thelamp 7 and the synchronous motor 5 are connected together in theconventional manner in an electrical circuit which in turn is connectedto the usual 1 15-125 volt 60 cycle alternating current source ofelectrical energy. It will be understood that any other source ofillumination can be used as, for example, a conventional incandescentlamp.

The housing 13 consists of the front panel 1, a back panel 14, two sidepanels 15 and 16, a bottom panel 17, channel members 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,23 and a removable top 24, which is adapted to fit inside the housingand be held in place by any suitable means, for example, by insertingscrews into the holes 25, 26, 27 and 28. Similar fastening means can beprovided on the opposite sides of the top of the housing. By removingthe fastening means, the top of the housing can be removed and the frontpanel 1 can also be removed by pulling it upwardly so that it will slideout of the channels or grooves in members 21 and 23. It will beunderstood that the channels or grooves 29 and 30 as shown in detail inFIG. 3 can be integrally formed with the side walls 15 or 16. Similarchannels or grooves can be pro vided at 18 and 19, and the bottom member17. The sides and bottoms are connected in a conventional manner byright angle brackets 31.

Referring to FIG. 4 it will be seen that the synchronous motor 5 and theconventional clock gear train mechanism 6 are mounted to the rear and toone side of the panel 1 and the display area 2 directly behind thetransparent area 3 of panel 1. The remaining area32 of panel 1 ispreferably opaque or possibly in some cases, translucent and contrastingin color to the printed design in area 2 and to the flashing radiallights produced behind area 3 of panel 1 by the mechanism hereinafterdescribed.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention a disc 33, whichmay also be called a pattern disc, is mounted for rotation in front ofthe illuminating means previously described on the shaft 34 whichcorresponds to the operating mechanism for the second hand of anelectric clock. Thus, when the motor 5 is running, disc 33 will make onecomplete revolution in 60 seconds. Disc 33 is made of plastic or othersuitable material and has a plurality of radial light transmittingsections 35 in the general configuration of a daisy on an opaquebackground 36. A transparent circular area 37 which can also be a holeor an opening permits light to pass through disc 33. Instead of a holeor light transmitting opening 37, a translucent rod can be attached tothe first disc which is rotatable around the outer rim of the second andthird discs hereinafter described.

A second disc 38 is mounted on shaft 39 which corresponds to the hourhand shaft of a clock and is adapted to make one complete revolution ina period of 12 hours. Disc 38 is made of plastic or other suitablematerial and has a radial light transmitting section 40 which can be inthe form of a transparent area in disc 38 or a radial slot in disc 38with a colored background in the area 41 which may be, for example, red.

A third disc 42 is mounted for rotation on the minute hand shaft 43 andis adapted to make one complete revolution in a period of one hour. Disc42 is similar to disc 38 in that it has a radial light transmitting area44 which can also be in the form of a slot and a colored background area45 which is normally a different color from the color of background area41 on disc 38. For example, when the background area 41 is red, thecolor of the background area 45 might be blue or green.

The discs are aligned so that light from the illuminating means willpass through their light transmitting sections and the combination ofthe colors in the second and third discs is preferably such, or thediscs are sufficiently thick, so as to block light everywhere except atlocations aligned with one of the radial transparent sections or slotsin the second or third discs, so that whenever a transparent section orslot in the second or third discs is aligned with a transparent sectionon the first disc a colored illuminated radially moving flashing hour orminute hand is presented to the viewer.

The discs 38 and 42 are normally of the same size and the disc 33normally has a greater diameter so that the hole or transparent dot 37which acts as a seconds indicator moves in an orbital path around theoutside of discs 38 and 42 and can be viewed from the front of panel 1.

As shown by the assembly of the discs in FIG. 5 a knob 46 which extendsthrough an opening 47 in panel 1 can be used to set the positions of thediscs 33, 38 and 42 in the same manner as in the setting of the hands ofa clock. The knob 46 can be made removable and the panel 1 can be madeof any suitable flexible plastic material so that when it is assembledby sliding it in the channel members shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 it can bebowed outwardly to permit the opening 47-to pass over knob 46 andthereafter to allow the sides of panel 1 to snap into place in thechannels in members 21 and 23. In this way, it is possible to insertdifferent panels 1 with different display areas 2.

The rotation of the discs 33, 38 and 42 at variable speeds with respectto one another produces a flashing radial light which moves in an orbitand at times during the course of said movement is directed toward thedisplay area 2, thereby attracting the attention of the viewer. At thesame time the mechanism which produces the orbital flashing radial lightalso has the dual function of serving as a clock and therefore providesa new type of clock mechanism in which indicating means for hours,minutes and seconds are illuminated in a novel manner.

It will be recognized that the use of a plurality of discs mounted forrotation in front of the illuminating means to the rear of the panel andto one side of the display, said discs having radial light transmittingsections and means to cause the rotation of said discs to produce aflashing radial light moving in an orbital path, does not necessarilyhave to use a clock driving mechanism to provide relative movementbetween said discs. Furthermore, while it is necessary to have aplurality of discs, it is not always essential to have three discsbecause a flashing orbital radially moving light can be achieved withtwo or more discs. In addition, it should be understood that the discsdo not have to be driven by concentrically arranged shafts 34, 39 and 43as in the embodiment used for illustration but can be driven by anyother suitable means, for example, driving means mounted at or adjacentthe outer peripheries of the discs. It will also be understood that thearrangement of the discs may be changed. This would require somealteration in the setting mechanism previously described as used in aconventional clock mechanism. Of course, the driving means for the discscan be mechanical (e.g., wound spring type) or electrical or any othertype of driving mechanism.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A clock comprising a clock driving mechanism, a first pattern discrotatable in response to said mechanism including radial transparentsections on an opaque background, a second disc rotatable in response tosaid mechanism at the rate of one revolution every 12 hours and having aradial transparent section and otherwise being colored with the coloredportion being light transmitting, and a third disc rotatable in responseto said mechanism at the rate of one revolution every hour and havingthe same characteristics as the second disc except that it is adifferent color, said discs being aligned with one another, a lightsource adapted to produce light rays which are transmitted through saidfirst, second and third discs in the order named, the second and thirddiscs blocking light everywhere except at locations aligned with one ofthe transparent sections in the second and third discs so that whenevera transparent section in the second and third disc is aligned with atransparent section on the first disc a colored radially moving flashingilluminated hour and minute hand is presented to the viewer. 2. A clockas claimed in claim 1 in which said first disc has a greater diameterthan the second and third discs and contains means to transmit light inan orbit around said second and third discs.

3. A clock as claimed in claim 1 in which said clock driving mechanismincludes concentric second, hour of said third disc will show red.

1. A clock comprising a clock driving mechanism, a first pattern discrotatable in response to said mechanism including radial transparentsections on an opaque background, a second disc rotatable in response tosaid mechanism at the rate of one revolution every 12 hours and having aradial transparent section and otherwise being colored with the coloredportion being light transmitting, and a third disc rotatable in responseto said mechanism at the rate of one revolution every hour and havingthe same characteristics as the second disc except that it is adifferent color, said discs being aligned with one another, a lightsource adapted to produce light rays which are transmitted through saidfirst, second and third discs in the order named, the second and thirddiscs blocking light everywhere except at locations aligned with one ofthe transparent sections in the second and third discs so that whenevera transparent section in the second and third disc is aligned with atransparent section on the first disc a colored radially moving flashingilluminated hour and minute hand is presented to the viewer.
 2. A clockas claimed in claim 1 in which said first disc has a greater diameterthan the second and third discs and contains means to transmit light inan orbit around said second and third discs.
 3. A clock as claimed inclaim 1 in which said clock driving mechanism includes concentricsecond, hour and minute shafts on which said first, second and thirddiscs, respectively, are mounted.
 4. A clock as claimed in claim 1 inwhich said transparent sections in said second and third discs areslots.
 5. A clock as claimed in claim 1 in which said second disc iscolored red and said third disc is colored blue whereby the radialtransparent section of said second disc will show blue and the radialtransparent section of said third disc will show red.